FIFA 09 vs. PES 09

[volcanicweather]

Kinda surprised no thread for this yet, but what do people think of the soccer/football games this year?

I'll give my two cents:

FIFA 09 (PC)

Pros: Very realistic player models, has a nice realistic "feel" when you run/pass/shoot the ball. A ton of team with accurate rosters/formations. Extensive soundtrack with close to 100 songs. Solid commentary (Andy Grey rocks).

Cons: Be a Pro mode is terrible with the wobbly chase camera angle... it makes me feel seasick. You can only do a maximum of 4 be a pro seasons as well, in which player progression from what I saw was very slow. The franchise mode is a joke; I was able to buy Sergio Ramos, David Villa, and Gareth Bale with incredible ease before I even started my first season with Chelsea. The menus are cumbersome and too succinct for my tastes; It definitely caters to the "5 second attention span" sports fan. It's also way too easy to score from outside the box, keeper AI needs to be tweaked.

PES 09 (PC)

Pros: Be a Legend mode is fantastic, it combines RPG elements of customizing your character so certain skills increase more than others, and the progression is relatively fast (I just signed with Celtic (League A as I edited leagues) in my 2nd season, after playing for Sporting and Spurs my first season. Some of my attributes have jumped up ~10 points in 1 season). The game play brings a certain "fun factor" which FIFA does not; touch passing is common, you can play beautiful through balls, and once you get the hang of it use can use directional passing to pass to a spot on the field and not directly to a player. You can also customize so much about the game; stats, faces, teams, etc. I really like this.

Cons: The commentary gets old very fast, especially if you have played previous PES games. Rosters are not up-to-date with all transfers thanks to FIFA buying the rights (or so I've heard), which can be fixed via editing. Doesn't have full licensing from all teams (i.e. Chelsea = London FC; this can be fixed via editing). The game leaves out Bayern Munich entirely - a big time wtf in my mind. Keeper AI is questionable again, it's happened 3-4 times now in Be a Legend mode where my AI controlled striker will just run up and take the ball from the goalie in the box and score a goal.

Winner: PES 09

The game is simply just more fun, at least for PC. Sure, FIFA dazzles with the graphics and big names, but PES simply brings a more fun-flowing game to the table and their Be a Legend mode stands head and shoulders above the Be a Pro mode found in FIFA.

[Hiroko]

Always been a fan of FIFA by EA over PES for a long time now.

[Octavious]

Honestly I love FIFA, it's a lot of fun. Which is shocking because I really don't like playing soccer games as much as others, but FIFA never disappoints.

[Wintermute]

From reviews I've read I hear FIFA creeps past PES this year.

I'm a PES fan myself but not made a purchase in years, bit surprised to hear FIFA has crept up and considering a switch.

Might see if I can find a demo on PS3/360 and decide which is more fluid

[Graelinn]

I WAS a huuuuge PES fan up until the previous release (the first Next Gen release) and i was sad to move on. I had high hopes this year as I had heard that Seabass and Co. were going back to the structure of PES 2005 and reworking from there. I had a lot of hope going into the PES Demo this year and within seconds i was just shaking my head.

Whether it was the sound of the ballbeing kicked or the stiff players... I just couldn't find it in myself to go back after playing the hell out of FIFA08 last year.

I actually picked up my copy of FIFA09 yesterday, and so far I am as pleased as I thought i would be. There are a few things that seem a little off, but overall the game is an improvement i feel. Graphically, as Exo pointed out to me and I agree with, it seems like they took a small step backwards. The feel is a little bit new, so it is taking some getting used to. The commentary seems a little more sparse, and some of it is just regurgitated from 08 of course. Hoping that i at least don't have to hear "Wright-Phillips, a real bundle of energy" 1000 times as I play against Chelsea though...

As for being able to buy pretty much whomever you want... i am sure that is just as much of a "problem" as it was last year. At one point, while managing Arsenal i had Bojan, Ronaldhino, Kaka, Berbatov, and a couple others on my squad. It was silly. The fun part was when i ditched Arsenal a season later and started Managing Man U. Playing against Arsenal was always fun, as i got to see what the 'new coach' did with those players. If you have the money in game, players WILL sign with you.

I have only just started my Be a Pro season, and only a few games into my Manager mode. I will say that Professional seems a bit harder this year, but it could just be me getting used to the few new play mechanics. Either way, harder is better.

Oh, some of you hated it if i remember... but i do miss the Challenges. The PSP version of 09 has a Challenge mode and they are mainly comebacks pulled straight out of last years games across all seasons. Some are pretty damn hard, but all are real games. The one where you have to beat Man U by 10 points (essentially having to score 4 more time against them in 25 minutes...) is pissing me off (PSP).

[volcanicweather]

Originally Posted by Graelinn

I WAS a huuuuge PES fan up until the previous release (the first Next Gen release) and i was sad to move on. I had high hopes this year as I had heard that Seabass and Co. were going back to the structure of PES 2005 and reworking from there. I had a lot of hope going into the PES Demo this year and within seconds i was just shaking my head.

Whether it was the sound of the ballbeing kicked or the stiff players... I just couldn't find it in myself to go back after playing the hell out of FIFA08 last year.

I actually picked up my copy of FIFA09 yesterday, and so far I am as pleased as I thought i would be. There are a few things that seem a little off, but overall the game is an improvement i feel. Graphically, as Exo pointed out to me and I agree with, it seems like they took a small step backwards. The feel is a little bit new, so it is taking some getting used to. The commentary seems a little more sparse, and some of it is just regurgitated from 08 of course. Hoping that i at least don't have to hear "Wright-Phillips, a real bundle of energy" 1000 times as I play against Chelsea though...

As for being able to buy pretty much whomever you want... i am sure that is just as much of a "problem" as it was last year. At one point, while managing Arsenal i had Bojan, Ronaldhino, Kaka, Berbatov, and a couple others on my squad. It was silly. The fun part was when i ditched Arsenal a season later and started Managing Man U. Playing against Arsenal was always fun, as i got to see what the 'new coach' did with those players. If you have the money in game, players WILL sign with you.

I have only just started my Be a Pro season, and only a few games into my Manager mode. I will say that Professional seems a bit harder this year, but it could just be me getting used to the few new play mechanics. Either way, harder is better.

Oh, some of you hated it if i remember... but i do miss the Challenges. The PSP version of 09 has a Challenge mode and they are mainly comebacks pulled straight out of last years games across all seasons. Some are pretty damn hard, but all are real games. The one where you have to beat Man U by 10 points (essentially having to score 4 more time against them in 25 minutes...) is pissing me off (PSP).

I have heard FIFA on PS3/360 is significantly better than PC, which may factor into my choosing of PES for PC. I played FIFA08 for 360 quite a bit and had fun.

For what it's worth, I played the demo of PES 09 and was not impressed at all. I think played 2-3 matches and went back to FIFA 09 immediately. They fixed some things (hence why it's a demo) and I feel it plays better now.

Although I was one of the few who didn't totally hate 08 (although I thought it was a step back from the ones for PS2) I think 09 is definitely a step in the right direction. If you were a big PES fan and disappointed by 08, you should check it out, at least for the Be A Legend stuff.

[Exoduso]

I've always been a PES guy, but FIFA was just better in 08 and most certainly is better in 09.\
I don't understand why FIFA toned down the graphics in 09 (compared to 08 they look like shit =/), but the gameplay is much better compared to last year's so i'm happy about that. Oh and I actually liked the Challenges.. >.>

On a different note, did anyone use the free code for anything OTHER than the Premiership adidas live updates? Seems like a waste to get it for any other league honestly.

I also played the PES demo and thought it was shit... hell PES started sucking in 07 with Winning Eleven 10.

[Mayareira]

FIFA 09 doesn't look worse than 08, it just gets blurry when PS3 upscales to 1080(can call it a bug, I guess.)
Manually lower your res. to 720 and it'll look a lot better.

[Exoduso]

It's stupid that I need to manually set my console to 720p in order to enjoy the game properly... >.>

I hope they update that bug soon.

[Wintermute]

Downloading PES09 demo for PS3 atm, fucking 1gig+ file...FIFA was 700mb.

FIFA is a bit fiddly, but not played a FIFA game since 2000 though so probably just need to get used to controls.

Hope PES isn't as bad as I fear.

[Wintermute]

Tried both demos on PS3.

PES plays, well like PES, same old system. Last one I played was PES4 and it plays pretty similar and a lot of the old tricks to score still work. There's been a few gameplay/AI tweaks, but it feels a lot like the same game.


FIFA is a bit more interesting, and the AI is a bit more brutal with Zone Pressing, passes, making opportunities, splitting your defense up, etc.
Pretty good really, if frustrating.

Only thing I don't like is that the Sliding Tackle response varies wildly, sometimes he slides right in and other times it feels like he's waiting until the planets align.

That and the analogue stick control, it's pretty fluid and really opens up the pitch for precise dribbling, but used to D-Pad controls for Football games.
Might just be the Dualshock analogue stick and my cack-handedness though, never was too good with that analogue stick.

FIFA seems far more challenging, though I'm not used to the FIFA system so it may influence my decision. Probably gonna pick it up later over PES.

[Graelinn]

I am hoping that the Be a Pro starts to pick up a bit when you get put into the Starting 11 / National Squad. One thing that I thought that UEFA did exceptionally was the Captain Your Country mode. I felt that that was what Be A Pro SHOULD have been like in FIFA08. Your teammates really seemed to "get" what you were trying to do.

So many times in Captain Your Country i would get spotted making a run by the computer controlled player and get a PERFECT lead pass which would set me up for an excellent shot.

In Be a Pro so far, on the reserve team, i am just making my runs for no other reason than to amuse myself it seems. Guess i will see how it is once the players around me are top class players.

AFK - Man U vs West Brom go!

[volcanicweather]

So I'm already half-way through season 4 on Be A Legend mode in PES:

Position: DMF/CMF

Season 1 - Signed with Sporting Lisbon -> Mid-season transfer to Tottenham; my guy sucked during this time (lots of 50's for stats) but I did OK

Season 2 - Signed with Celtic, stats were still pretty bad and the manager didn't like to play me really, but i still managed to get a decent number of assists... brought them from the lower end of the table to 9th. Celtic refused to re-sign me however -_-

Season 3 - Signed with Athletico Madrid, my stats finally started to get to a playable level (low 70's) and they had a stacked team actually, especially up-front (Kun Aguero, Luca Toni, Diego Forlan, Maxi Rodriguez). This was great for a mid-fielder like myself and I ended up leading the league in assists and scoring 5 goals, most of which were garbage rebound goals. The club finished second in both the league and the cup I won League A player of the year (the top league will all the best teams) and made both the All-Europe and All-World teams.

Also during this time, I helped Sweden qualify for Euro 2012. The manager really hates me though and wouldn't start me =(. Figures though, Laegerback like to start the old guys.

Season 4 - Signed with Barcelona, wow, playing with this team is amazing. They have me playing DMF in a 4-3-3... Iniesta and Xavi are both awesome (Iniesta was player of the year last season) and Messi is just sensational. I wish I had another midfielder to work with like I did at Athletico though and having all the defensive responsibility kind of sucks sometimes. It also feels like I'm being targeted by defensive schemes as well somewhat, as when I touch the ball I almost instantly have 2 guys on me in the center. Still though, around 8 goals (get lots of clean-up goals here and I've been increasing my forward runs) and 8 assists in all competitions. The largest difference though is in all my other clubs I have usually been involved in a lot of the build-up play with scoring goals... here there are some goals where I don't even touch the ball. However, my ratings here have been very high, I'd say around 7.0 average. I just got done with the winter transfer window, but no real bids came in.

Even though it seems like I'm a ways into this, my player is only 20 and I don't even have a stat in the high 80's yet (except for stamina; 95).... so I think the next couple of seasons will be fun.

Also, Zenit has tried to sign me every single time and Celtic keeps trying to sign me again as well... they shouldn't have let me go! =)

[Graelinn]

Haha, that sounds like a blast! I really wish that Be A Pro was like that... and not just 'pick a team, play for team' nonsense.

I will have to pick up PES at some point just to try out Be A Legend. Wonder if the PSP version will have anything like that. I actually did like PES on PSP last year, but there isn't much to hate on on a PSP footy game.

With FIFA I have been online most of the weekend, just playing Be A Pro Quick Matches. It can be a lot of fun if you don't get stuck with a bunch of selfish pricks that refuse to pass or play their position. Of course... it is about a 1 in 5 chance that you will get a group of good, smart, strategic players.

Case and point... one of the games i played this weekend, within 2 minutes our team (Barcelona i think...) was scored on by Rio Ferdinand of Man U. Yeah... since the five people on our team all had picked either strikers or attacking Midfielders, their player just charged right past them all and scored with a Center Back. Good times.

Honestly though, you get that one match where at least ONE other person is playing intelligently and setting up killer runs and 1-2 passes and it is a blast.

[volcanicweather]

Originally Posted by Graelinn

Haha, that sounds like a blast! I really wish that Be A Pro was like that... and not just 'pick a team, play for team' nonsense.

I will have to pick up PES at some point just to try out Be A Legend. Wonder if the PSP version will have anything like that. I actually did like PES on PSP last year, but there isn't much to hate on on a PSP footy game.

With FIFA I have been online most of the weekend, just playing Be A Pro Quick Matches. It can be a lot of fun if you don't get stuck with a bunch of selfish pricks that refuse to pass or play their position. Of course... it is about a 1 in 5 chance that you will get a group of good, smart, strategic players.

Case and point... one of the games i played this weekend, within 2 minutes our team (Barcelona i think...) was scored on by Rio Ferdinand of Man U. Yeah... since the five people on our team all had picked either strikers or attacking Midfielders, their player just charged right past them all and scored with a Center Back. Good times.

Honestly though, you get that one match where at least ONE other person is playing intelligently and setting up killer runs and 1-2 passes and it is a blast.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pro-Evolutio.../dp/B001DU8SQO

It sounds like they will have "Be A Legend" for PSP; but I can't find anything official from Konami. Did you know that Football Manager for PSP will have the 2D match engine finally? I'm pretty excited for that.

There's also a "Legends Online Mode" for PES, where you take your Be a Legend character online, similar to the FIFA Be a Pro quick match. I haven't tried it yet though, seeing as the US version of the game isn't even released until mid-November.

For FIFA, are you able to play with someone if you desire to, or is it just totally random? Also do you know if there is cross-platform online play (PS3, 360, PC) or if it's all for the same console? It sounds fun but I'm sure I'd get pissed at the guy who shoots every time he gets within 30 yards of goal or tries to take on 4 defenders. I have always enjoyed playing in the central/defensive midfield but what's the point of good build-up play if the striker sucks.

[Graelinn]

New DLC Commentary. 14 Language packs which are free, and one new English Commentary (Andy Townsend and Clive Tyldesley) for $4.99US. Anyone gonna bite?

EA SPORTS announced today that all 14 international commentary packs in FIFA Soccer 09 will be available to download free on both the PlayStation Network for PLAYSTATION 3 and on Xbox Live for Xbox 360. For the first time, fans worldwide can now download and experience all language commentary packs featuring different commentators from all over the world while playing FIFA Soccer 09.

FIFA Soccer 09 currently features specific languages by region but beginning today gamers can download and experience play-by-play commentary from other regions of the world. This will deliver a new international experience to FIFA Soccer 09 fans.

The following commentary packs will be available beginning today:

Language - Commentator's Names

English Andy Gray Martin Tyler
French Herve Mathoux Franck Sauzée
Italian Giuseppe Bergomi Fabio Caressa
German Tom Bayer Sebastian Hellman
Spanish Paco González Manolo Lama
Mexico Perro Bermúdez Ricardo Pelaez
Dutch Youri Mulder Evert Ten Napel
European Portuguese David Carvalho Hélder Conduto
Hungarian Richard Faragó István B. Hajú
Russian Yuri Rozanov Vasily Solojov
Swedish Glenn Hysén Henrik Strömblad
Czech Bosák Jaromír Petr Svěcený
Polish Włodzimierz Szaranowicz Dariusz Szpakowski
Brazilian Portugese Paulo Vinícius Coelho Nivaldo Prieto

Additionally, FIFA Soccer 09 offers a whole new commentary pack for download on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Marketplace. An additional English commentary pack featuring Andy Townsend and Clive Tyldesley previously unavailable on any version of FIFA Soccer 09 is available for download for only $4.99 US.

[Mayareira]

No Turkish commentary = fail

I'll probably end up downloading Portugese/Spanish/Mexican because they are awesome and their "GOLGOLGOLGOLGOLGOL GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!" scream creates an awesome environment especially when you are playing against a friend, etc.

I do miss Winning Eleven's Japanese dude, though "Acrobatico shuuutooo...GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!"